Prior U.S. patents and other literature disclose utilization of various surface configurations for reducing of the drag and/or creating of various forces on the surface of a moving body such as an automobile, boat, airplane or other devices having a surface which moves through air, water or other fluids.
The present inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,302 (issued Aug. 18, 1981) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,568 (issued Nov. 23, 1999) disclose surface modifications to a body to improve the efficient movement through a fluid. Both patents disclose air directing flutes which are laterally and longitudinally spaced and distributed over a surface to improve the efficiency of movement in fluid mediums.
As noted in those patents and others, there is a continuing demand for practical constructions which will more fully promote the efficient movement of vehicles and other bodies in air, water and other fluid mediums. The current energy crisis has created the need and desire for more effective surface constructions for various bodies which move through various mediums with an increased efficiency. Many of the prior art attempts to enhance body movement through a fluid medium have required the use of various combinations or multiple formations of surface constructions.
Consider the various forces acting on a smooth surface of the body moving through a fluid medium. In the case of a land-based vehicle in a static condition, a single or primary layer adheres non-releasably to the surface in a manner known as adhesion. As the vehicle moves in a dynamic condition, the first layer of air pulls or drags along a second layer of air. This second layer pulls along a third layer and subsequent layers of air along the entire lengthwise surface of the moving body forming a phenomenon as cohesion. As a result of the normal movement of the body, myriads of additional layers of air (or other fluid medium) are pulled along creating drag. Without remedial structure to counter this fluid accumulation, drag will increase at a geometrically compounding rate creating an undesirable wake. These fluid layers that build up on the smooth surface of the body require additional energy to move the surface through the media offsetting much of the hoped for economies from the various flow patterns. In practical terms, such additional energy translates to greater fuel demands in a continually worsening energy situation in which fuel supply is lacking and costs are increasingly rising.
It is therefore desirable to provide dynamic surface structure on a body moving through a fluid medium in a manner which will substantially interrupt the adhesive and cohesive accumulation of the medium which causes adverse fluid flow and drag. It is likewise desirable to convert the adverse fluid flow to a more favorable propulsive force which pushes the body forward. It is further desirable to provide an independent dynamic surface attachment which will improve movement of a body through a fluid medium by itself.